Coming Into His Own, Doug Keith.

Yes, Doug Keith may, as yet, be best known as Sharon Van Etten’s touring guitarist, but with every shred torn so far from his forthcoming nine-track LP, Pony, he replenishes the impression that he should be respected as a virtuous solo artist in his own right. Following on from the J Mascis-featuring shred-fest that was Pure Gold In The 70’s, and the comparatively arcadian Harvest Home, comes perhaps his finest yet in the blissful form of You Can’t Stand To Be Alone.

Beginning with twinkling, distant guitars, Keith concedes: “Your heart wasn’t into it; your face was a mess”, perpetuating a remote comparison between Pony and Isaac Brock’s Modest Mouse. Yet whereas his Issaquah, Washington contemporaries trend in melancholia first and foremost, You Can’t Stand To Be Alone instead revels in major-key glory, strung out into grand crescendi. This is Keith mischievously goading a skittish autophobe with the sound of several musicians combining to synergic effect, and as he continues to tease with select cuts from Pony, he’ll likely carry on tickling many a figurative tastebud in the process.